05:05PM, Friday 27 February 2026
The cap can be increased above this if the Government gives local authorities permission or if the rise is approved through a referendum.
The Royal Borough will be able to increase council tax by 7.49 per cent from April if this is approved at a full council meeting next week.
In December last year, the Government also published a provisional settlement which proposed RBWM will be allowed to increase council tax without a referendum above the threshold in 2027/28 and 2028/29.
Resident Andrew Hill launched a petition on Monday (February 23) to object to the proposed increase for 2026/27, which quickly gained more than 600 signatures.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Mr Hill said: “The purpose of this petition is to give ordinary people, probably the last chance ever to object to excessive council tax [increases].
He added he is ‘sounding the alarm bell’ and calling on councillors to either vote against this 7.49 per cent increase or to amend the increase to a 7.5 per cent rise.
Mr Hill told the LDRS this minor change would trigger a referendum.
If a petition published on the council’s website reaches 1,000 signatures it can be debated at a full council meeting.
But Mr Hill said the council has ‘refused’ to publish the petition on its website ‘in an outrageous attempt to suppress debate on excessive council tax rises’.
Mr Hill suggested the Maidenhead Neighbourhood Plan referendum – set to take place on Thursday, March 19 – would have been ‘the most cost-effective time’ to ask residents an additional question around council tax.
He also suggested holding a local poll to let residents share their views on the proposed council tax increase, which he said can be held at any time.
Speaking to the LDRS a Royal Borough spokesperson said: “This year’s budget has been developed with a clear focus on protecting and prioritising essential services for residents, particularly those who rely on our support the most.
“We welcome residents taking the time to share their views on proposals and have provided opportunities for people to participate in the budget process, including a formal public consultation which ran for six weeks between November 2025 and January 2026.
“We have not published the petition on our website as alongside it not meeting criteria set out in the council’s petitions process, the budget is set to be considered at the meeting of the council next Tuesday – so there would clearly not be time to hold any referendum.”
Council tax will account for 96 per cent of the council’s funding by 2030/31, a cabinet meeting on Tuesday (February 24) heard.
It currently provides three quarters of the council’s funding, according to a report presented at cabinet.
The medium-term financial plan also assumes that council tax will increase by a further 10 per cent in 2027/28.
Without council tax increases above the national 4.99 per cent threshold, RBWM’s budget gap is set to rise to £103million by 2030/31, a council report said.
At the York House meeting, Rachel Howard, the council’s executive director of resources, said no final decisions are being taken around the council tax thresholds for those later financial years yet.
The next administration, elected in May 2027, will make a decision around council tax in the 2028/29 financial year.
But Ms Howard said: “I must be clear that decisions will need to be taken in those two [financial years] to utilise that flexibility grant [from the Government] to get council tax to the national average level no matter how difficult those decisions might be.
“The decisions on council tax are the only decisions that can be taken that will make such a substantial reduction in the [council’s] need for [Exceptional Financial Support] EFS and the associated costs of financing it.”
The Government announced reforms to its Fair Funding Review 2.0 last year, which aims to direct more money to deprived areas in the country.
RBWM is set to be £30million ‘worse off’ a draft budget report said.
But this week, the Government approved ‘in principle’ the council’s request for £48.75million of EFS – meaning it can borrow more money to cover its day-to-day spending to address financial pressures.
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